Sweet Hello
by Okane-Tsuki
Summary: After graduating High School Akane and Ranma go there separate ways never to see or hear from each other again until five years down the road. When Ranma returns will everything be normal or has their relationship changed?
1. The Graduation

Akane watched as Ranma chatted happily in the distance with Ukyo as he readjusted his graduation cap. Akane lifted her arm up and hastily took her cap off and brought it down in front of her and wrapped her arms around it. He was leaving, finally, well she didn't know if she was excited for it or not. They didn't have the best relationship but still, she would miss him.

"Congratulations Akane!" the little voice of Happosai was heard but she could see him until she looked down and saw he was looking up her gown.

"Sorry Happosai its just a scort not panties," Akane sighed as she kicked the little man away from her.

"What's wrong with you?" Happosai stepped back so he could look up at her. He saw that she was staring into the distance and he turned to see who she was watching. "He invited you to go with him," he said rolling his eyes.

"I know but he kept saying that it was something he needed to do it on his own," Akane protested, she had thought about going but he kept saying it was his job to get himself back to normal. With another sigh she looked around and found her sisters and father with Mr. Saotome still sitting in their seats talking amongst themselves. She just wanted to leave, she had her diploma and had officially graduated and now it was time to go home. She didn't feel like talking to anyone, not even her friends, whoever they might be.

Akane lumbered over to her family and gave them all the tired lets go look.

"Akane you just graduated you really want to leave already?" Kasumi asked sadly looking at her youngest sister. Kasumi leaned to the side and looked to see Ranma still eagerly talking to Ukyo and now Shampoo had joined them. "Don't you wanna wait for Ranma? He is leaving tomorrow," she said looking back into the sad eyes of Akane.

"Akane stop being a baby, its not time to go home yet the party has barely started!" Soun Tendo shouted as he pulled out a jug of sake and Mr. Saotome lit up with glee.

Kasumi shook her head and turned to see if Nabiki was still there or not, she wasn't. "Alright lets go home," she said standing up from her seat and her and Akane headed for home.

Ranma finally looked up from his conversation when he heard his father roar. "Oh no," he groaned as he saw that his father had changed into a panda and was now roaring and drinking sake with Mr. Tendo. Time to go, he guess as he walked over to them and stood next to his father before repeatedly punching his father in the stomach. "Lets go home you drunken bear!" he shouted as he grabbed his father by the ear and started to drag him home. He only stopped for a slight moment and looked around him, "Mr. Tendo where did Akane go?"

Soun Tendo stopped walking and looked around him, "I guess, well I'm not sure but I bet she is fine."

Ranma groaned again as they continued on their way home. What a mess, and how was he suppose to head out to Jusenkyo in the morning with his father and Happosai, and he was sure that Shampoo, Cologne, and Mouse would join up somewhere along the way. He let go of his fathers ear and jumped up on the cement wall as they all walked home. He really just wanted to do this by himself, but he guessed his father needed to go as well. Ranma looked down at his Panda like father, well his father sure did like being a panda, he got away with a lot more.

At first he just wanted to go alone and then as soon as everyone said they were going, even Ryoga claimed he would go so he was no longer cursed to be p-chan. Now that everyone was going he wished that Akane would say that she would come, but after he kept saying that he needed to do this alone he was sure Akane would let him. 'BUT EVERYONE IS COMING NOW,' he thought loudly to himself then shook it off. He was sure that she would be studying all summer so that she could take the Tokyo University entrance exam. 'Why does everyone try to get into the most prestigious school in Japan?' he thought with a small smirk on his face, he was sure that Akane could make it though.

As soon as he got home he went to see if Akane was still awake or not. Somehow it had been 10 o'clock when he had gotten home. He cracked the door open and peaked in and saw that she was in fact sleeping. Sighing he gently closed the door and went downstairs to find some food in the kitchen, when did he get so hungry?

Akane turned from her side to her back and practically smacked herself in the forehead. He actually came into talk to her and she pretended to be asleep. She sat up maybe she should go find him? "No he probably just went to bed, he has a big day tomorrow," she said quietly to herself. Maybe she would wake up early enough to watch him leave? She flipped back to her side and fell right to sleep.

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A/n: So what do you think? The next chapter will be posted within the next few days...it will start off 5 years after Ranma leaves the Tendo Training Hall. Review please? This is my first Ranma fic.


	2. Finally Home

-Five years later-

Ranma stumbled to the front gate and looked at the familiar but distant past. He slowly lifted his arm up and looked at the plaque that read Tendo Training Hall of Anything Goes Marital Arts. Then he followed his slipping finger down the list of owners and he stopped when he saw the last 3 names.

Ranma Saotome

Akane Tendo

Ryoga Hibiki

When had Ryoga become a master of Anything Goes? Groaning from pain he ignored all possibilities of what this could mean and pushed the gate open and walked inside. He found a spot where he could climb up the wall safely so he could get onto the roof. Once up there he walked over to the place over Akane's bedroom where he always used to sit and plopped down and let his body rest and relax for the first time in 5 years.

Looking up from her book Akane stared up at her ceiling. "No Akane, we stopped doing that remember?" She talked to herself in third person. Ranma was not on the roof and he would never return to the Tendo Training Hall. She went back to her book but she heard the noise on the roof again, "Ok maybe its just a bird." For a third time she heard the movement and someone yelp out in pain.

Getting out of bed she headed towards her open window, but she paused. What was she doing, maybe she was just hearing things. As far as she knew Ranma was dead, after he and everyone else left they had never heard from anyone of them again besides Ryoga.

She thought about the day that Ryoga had returned all battered and bruised and told them of the Amazon's capturing them and was keeping them prisoner even Shampoo and Cologne were being called traitors. When she had asked Ryoga about Ranma and Mr. Saotome all he had said was they had gotten split up and after he heard about the beheading of Mousse he wasn't sure what happened to them or what awaited them.

'Ranma's dead, there's no way,' she thought to herself then she heard the shuffling on the roof again. Eh, what would it hurt just to check? Unless it was Ryoga again, but he had only done that a few times. He would climb up there and look at the sky and she would think it was Ranma returned but to her great disappointment it wasn't. One night she had even yelled at him for it and he hadn't done it again.

Without another thought she climbed out on the little piece of roof outside her window and walked over to the ledge of the higher roof and grasped it as she then pulled herself up.

She was faced with a heap of a person with ripped and blood stained clothing in the fetal position. She wanted to run over to him but she knew she would fall if she moved to fast on this roof. She walked over to him and bent over and poked at him.

"OW!" he shouted then quickly realized someone had already found him. He opened his eyes and sat up gently as he turned his head to look at her. "Akane," he said with a smile on his face.

"Ranma I thought you were dead!" she said holding back the tears.

"Me die? Heh," he tried to laugh to but it hurt to much and he felt the stinging in his chest. He remembered there was still metal nails down there. Thinking about them he almost passed out, but Akane was behind him now.

"Ranma can you get off the roof?" Akane asked worried as she suddenly saw his eyes heading towards the back of his head again. "Ranma," she shouted to wake him up, "Come on." She tried to help him to her room but she was too weak and he kept passing out. "UGH!" she screamed out loud as she put him back down and head towards the edge of the roof and jumped back down on the lower roof and climb back into her bedroom. She really didn't want to do this but she had no other choice, Ranma couldn't stay on the roof all night.

She walked out into the hallway and downstairs then out to the dojo. Without even knocking she burst through the door. Causing Ryoga to freak out and stop doing whatever he was doing. She assumed that he was meditating because she didn't see a towel around him this time.

"Akane what in the world are you doing? It's like midnight almost," he said as he stood up from the ground and looked at her in the eye. Over the years he had become more agitated by the way Akane had acted and it slowly turned him off. He rubbed his face and then his eyes wiping away any sleepies from them. If anyone found out that he fell asleep while he was suppose to be meditating then for sure Mr. Tendo would take his training school from him.

"I need your help with something," Akane said wondering what Ryoga would do if he found out Ranma was back. Would he try to get revenge? No, that was the old Ryoga, the new Sensei Ryoga was almost completely different then he used to be. He was very mature and grown up now, and Akane hated it because she knew that she still hadn't matured yet.

"Well...," Ryoga said waiting for her to ask. Of course he would still do anything for her, he was still secretly in love with her, she knew that too. Sometimes she would use it to her advantage to get him to do things that she didn't wanna do alone.

"Ranma's on the roof!" she said as she pointed out the dojo door and up to the huddled figure on the roof above her bedroom.

"So?" Ryoga said he was glad Ranma was alive and back but he didn't get what Akane what him to do about it. Kick him out? No why would she ever want Ranma kicked out? The only thing that kept him and Akane from being an item was the fact that she still thought about Ranma constantly.

"He's hurt and I tried to help him into the house but I'm not strong enough and he just keeps passing out ," she said angerly stomping her foot on the wood floor.

"Fine fine fine, I'm going," he said as he walked out of the gym and jumped up onto the roof and picked Ranma up before taking him into the house via Akane's bedroom window. Never in a million years would he think that he would be the one owning the Tendo Training School and Ranma being the one coming home 5 years later in the worst shape a man a man could ever be in. He looked around and saw Akane's bed and then he felt the weight or the light weight of Ranma's body in his arms. He placed the beaten man down on the bed and soon Akane joined them in the room.

Once Ryoga and Akane got a good look of Ranma's condition they both were disgusted, how had he made it back to Japan? Akane turned around and Ryoga told her to go and get lots of towels, a bucket of warm water, a robe, and lots of aspirin. As soon as Akane left the room Ryoga did his best to take the ragged bloody clothes off the other man without hurting him, too much. As he removed his shirt he saw that there was something weird about Ranma's chest but he couldn't really place it because of the caked on blood.

By the time Akane had returned he had Ranma completely naked but Ryoga knew that Akane would be helping him so he covered up the manly parts with a small blanket. When Akane saw what blanket he had used she almost freaked out on him, it was her baby blanket! But she didn't say anything because she knew the most important thing was to get Ranma in better shape.

Akane took a clothe and dropped it into the bucket of water not even realizing that the water was far from warm, it was very cold. She took the wet clothe out of the water and then walked over to Ranma's chest and squeezed all the water out onto his chest. As Ranma shivered Akane and Ryoga both shot looks at each other. Ryoga dared to stick his hand into the water next to him...and poof...he turned into a pig.

"Oh crap," Akane said as she looked at the scowl on P-chan's face, after 3 more years of him living in her house she had found out Ryoga's little secret. Quickly Akane got up and grabbed the bucket and refilled it with warm water this time and checked it before she returned to the room and dumped a cup full on Ryoga and closed her eyes until he assured her that he was dressed. When Akane opened her eyes Ryoga was just looking down at Ranma.

"What is it?" She asked as she walked over closer and looked at Ranma.

"The water was cold," Ryoga said as he looked at Akane and she looked back at him not connecting the dots. "Akane he didn't turn into a girl!"

Akane almost burst into tears as she looked down at Ranma, he had did it, he actually had gotten that nasty curse off of him. The one thing he had always wanted ever since she had known the kid. "Yay!" she said a little victory scream as she looked back at Ryoga who had a sad smile on his face. Akane knew that look, Ryoga was happy for Ranma but he was sad for himself because he probably would never have the chance to break his own curse. Akane gave him a sad but hopeful look and then they started back to work of cleaning Ranma off.

As they cleared his chest of dirt and blood they cringed at what they saw. He had staples in the shape of his rib cage all over. "Now how and the hell are we suppose to get those out?" Ryoga said looking at the work ahead of him.

"Um...staple remover?" Akane suggested as she walked over to her desk and pulled out the little teeth like pullers.

"What no way!" Ryoga shouted at her as he looked at the little metal that looked like an alligators mouth. "He's already sore I can't just shove those sharp teeth into his skin!"

"Oh good point," Akane said looking back in her desk drawer for something else. "HERE!" she said taking out a piece of plastic that looked like a chisel. "It's plastic so it should be soft enough," she handed it over to Ryoga.

He studied it for a second before looking up at Akane but she was already out of the room getting a bowl to put the pulled staples in. He shrugged and placed the tool under the first staple and popped it out with a little squirm from Ranma. Akane then appeared and Ryoga dropped the pulled piece of metal into the bowl and headed for the next one. "Akane what exactly is this thing?"

"I used it in clay sculpting while the clay is still wet you use that make lines," she said as he pulled another and put it in her bowl. She set the bowl down on the bed and got the wet clothe and started to get the dirt off his feet and legs.

"So theres probably still clay on this and I'm putting it into open wounds? Good job Akane," he said a little mad but he made sure then to clean it with a clean wet towel.

"Whatever," she said as she finished cleaning his feet and saw the huge blisters and sores all over them. "How did this kid walk?"

"They probably tortured him by constantly hitting his feet with a wooden board. They did that to me but luckily when the main punisher went away the person hitting my feet stopped because she was so tired," Ryoga explained as he finished up pulling the staples out and then forcing lots aspirin down Ranma's throat.

"Gross," was all Akane could muster while holding back the urge to throw up.

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A/n: Thank you for everyone thats reviewed so far and the like 200 hits ive already had! If only every person that read this reviewed! That would for sure make my day! Actually that would make my life, and my writing career! Anyways I will probably post the next chapter by tomrrow if i have more reviews...if not it might be a few days. You know motivation or watever. Again thanks to my reviewers! and please do it again!


	3. Ranma Awakens

A few days later Akane sat in the dojo watching Ryoga doing a warm up routine with the students. During Akane's short stint as owner she had managed to start teaching 3 students and when she turned the job over to Ryoga those 3 students had somehow evolved into 12. It was okay with her that he was the leader, he was good with the students. Her father had managed to teach him a few things that made the Tendo style different from the Saotome or any other. Of course since Ryoga already had his own moves and technique before Soun had trained him he was able to incorporate his own stuff. It was the school of "Anything Goes".

A younger student came over to Akane and she helped him put his sash back on that one of the older kids had ripped off. She looked up at the little boy who was trying so hard not to cry. "Don't worry, one day you will be able to kick their butts, right?" she asked the little one and he smiled and shook his head. "Alright then get back out there!" The little kid ran back on the floor and Akane could tell he was trying his hardest to keep pace.

She looked up into her bedroom window and could see someone moving around in there. 'Is he finally awake?' she thought as she watched a little longer and then the moving shadow disappeared. "Hm?" she said out loud as she continued to watch the house. A few moments later the side door opened and a bandaged Ranma appeared. It took all she had not to jump up and run over to him, instead she tried to focus back on Ryoga teaching the class. It took all she had not to think about him, and she knew she had to act surprised if he came over there.

"What the hell is all of this?" the voice of Ranma sounded from behind her and she forced herself not to turn around and look at him.

"Ryoga is teaching a class," she said trying to get her voice to stay one pitch. She quickly closed her eyes and tried to regroup.

"Interesting, interesting," he said as he stepped up into the building and leaned against a wall and continued to watch with Akane.

'What? He just wakes up after 5 years of not being here and off in China being tortured and he just, wait a minute,' she was thinking to herself then she stopped and looked over at him. He had that sparkle in his eye, 'He's already thinking about Martial Arts AGAIN?!?!' Akane was about ready to scream, what in the world was he thinking?

Clenching her fists she stood up and jumped out into the yard and walked over to the nearest tree and looked at it. She really wanted to just punch it or smash her head into it, but instead she just grabbed it and sighed. "He's still the same stubborn, fight loving, doofus!" she said to herself hoping no one would hear her.

"You better not be talking about me," Ranma said from behind her and he watched as she froze up and turned to look at him. "And what the heck happened to your hair?"

"What do you mean what happened to my hair? IT GREW BACK OUT! Ranma you know I hate you right?" she said yelling but toned it down near the end of the sentence. Yep, same old Ranma Saotome.

"I see, looks nice," he said smirking a little knowing that he was already getting on her nerves. Ah....to get on someone's nerves again, it seemed so natural.

"Then why did you say what the heck happened to it? Ranma I don't understand how you can just come back to this place 5 years later and just expect everything to be the same. I'm a very mature woman now," she said flicking her hair and rocking her head to show that she was very sophisticated.

"Yeah right," he said then he heard Ryoga yelling at one of the students and glanced back over at the gym. When his attention turned back to Akane he could see her face was bright red and she was trying everything to not yell at him. "How's being married to P-Chan?" He assumed that she had found out by now.

"I am not married to Ryoga!" she said resisting the urge to roll up her selves and punch him square in the jaw. 'Remember girl he is still recovering, you can't hurt him like in the old days,' she thought to herself and loosed her fingers from the inside of her palm. She then took her left hand and ran it through her long locks.

"Your not? Then why does he own the dojo?" Ranma asked with a questioning look on his face. He was sure that was the situation.

"Because I'm still in school and I could do both so I just gave it to him," Akane said hoping that they were actually going to have a normal conversation for once.

"That makes sense, I don't know why Ryoga would marry a hot head like you," He laughed and turned his hands behind his head. Then he felt a searing pain across his entire chest and he bent over hoping it would stop the pain.

"Ranma," Akane ran over to him and helped him sit down in the grass. "You are gonna reopen your wounds. We removed 78 staples from your chest," she said remembering the nasty ribcage shaped staple display that was on his chest.

"They were only staples? I thought they were nails they hurt so bad," he said as he lifted his shirt and saw that some wounds started to bleed again. He winced remembering being half conscious while they were sticking them into him.

"I'm surprised you can even walk, the blisters on your feet were so bad we had to drain them," she said as she looked down at his still bandaged feet. Then she heard his stomach growl, and it made her giggle. "Come on, lets get some food?"

Ranma put his shirt down and looked at her as if he was a scared puppy. Akane making him food? Worse than Amazon torture.

"Don't worry I can cook now!" She smiled at him and she helped him stand up slowly and they made their way into the kitchen.

"Can you cook as good as Kasumi?" He asked as he sat on the counter and watched her dig in the fridge for some food to make. He watched as she pulled out a jar of pickles and brought it over and handed it to him. He gave her a blank stare, "This is it? You can make pickles?"

Akane rolled her eyes at him, "Just eat some to snack on while I make you some food, god Ranma."

Ranma looked down at the jar and then opened it and began to snack as he paid no attention to what Akane was doing. They were pretty good, he lifted the jar up and looked at it and noticed there was no label. Yep, they were homemade, 'eh so what anyone can make pickles'.

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A/n: THANK YOU FOR MY REVIEWS they make me happy...sorry it took so long for this chapter i had it written just didnt have time to post it. I have half of the next chapter written but i got some busy days coming up so don't expect it until like sunday night or monday...and yeah i know it was a weird place to end it lol...i've discovered i really like writing these characters they r so silly in odd ways. I was gonna try to make them mature but i just don't see that ever happening with them, they would lose their chemistry. Alright good bye! Review please... ;-)


	4. Blossoming

That night Ranma sat out on the front porch and looked out at the little koi pond. He remembered that pond oh so well. That pond caused him plenty of transforming trouble back in the day, he sighed thinking about it. He thought about the red pig-tailed girl and how it was so weird that she seemed like a completely different person now. He looked down at his lap and found it hard to ever imagine not having that down there. Then he sat up straight and pulled his hands in front of him, he tried as hard as he could. But he couldn't remember what it was like to be a girl, come to think of it when he did change back into a boy from being a girl it seemed like it had never happened at all.

Never again would he know or understand the female mind and body. He put his chin in his hand and smashed his elbow down on his leg, that was the only thing he had going for him with women. He used to be able to understand them and what they think and what they want even when they say every things fine, but that was only when he was also a girl. He heard a dish drop in the kitchen and he knew it was Akane.

She seemed to of not changed one bit, and he sorta liked it. She made him act like his old self again, he smiled remembering when he had made her mad earlier that day. It was like all the horrible things that had happened to him the last 5 years were all a dream. Yes, this is were he liked to be, at the Tendo Dojo, not fighting to stay alive or escape. Suddenly he got real depressed, "Dad, I hope you ended up getting out of there."

"Welcome back," Ryoga said from behind Ranma as he didn't even jump. 'Did he sense I was here? Or is he just not surprised by anything anymore?' Ryoga thought as he sat next to Ranma on the wooden porch over viewing the pond.

"Thanks," Ranma said once Ryoga was sitting next to him. "You know? I never thought I would ever make it back here," he said quietly he knew that Ryoga knew what he was talking about. Ryoga was lucky to of gotten away when he did.

"I don't even understand how you got back here. I thought I was in bad shape but you are way worse, you look like a skeleton," Ryoga said looking at the bony figure of a man that used to be buff and as strong as him. He was only a few more inches taller then what he was in High School and Ryoga felt weird towering over the man at a staggering 6 feet. He had always been a little taller than Ranma now he was almost a whole head!

"Yeah you still look like a wimp, I could take you," Ranma said proudly pointing his nose in the air, he was still the same stubborn son of a bitch. He looked at Ryoga and saw Ryoga giving him the don't joke around look so he dropped it. "Anyways, hows living with Akane? You guys live together alone? I don't see anyone else," he had been wondering where everyone was all day but didn't have the guts to ask Akane just in case it was something sad.

"Eh...well Soun is still here he is just gone for about another day, he went to go help Kasumi with the kids for a couple of days. Kasumi married that crazy baffon doctor, whatever the heck his name is. And Nabiki, well...I think she is in college somewhere," Ryoga laughed wondering where the heck Nabiki actually was.

"I see, and you and Akane still aren't together?" Ranma asked his eyes narrowing but he didn't look at the other man. He didn't want to seem to suspicious.

"No, she's pretty focused on her studies. Plus most of the time she annoys me with her bossiness, and she always wants to be fighting with me about something," Ryoga sighed knowing now that Ranma was back he had no chance. Eh, Ranma was better with her than he was, Ranma was a little immature brat himself. He scoffed then quickly realized what he had done and looked at Ranma hoping he hadn't noticed, but Ranma was looking straight at him with one eye brow cocked.

"She's all yours buddy," Ryoga said quickly standing up and walking back inside before he said or did anything else. He then headed straight back to his room in the gym and decided it would be best to stay there all night. He walked up the stairs and then looked around, "Dammit how do I get outside?"

Akane almost fell off the kitchen counter for a second time after she heard what Ryoga had said to Ranma. She was not bossy nor did she always try to fight with him! She was red now, and what did he mean by she's all Ranma's? She wasn't anyone's besides her own self, she was Akane Tendo owned by no one but Akane Tendo.

"Careful don't fall again," Ranma said arms crossed as he turned his head to look at her up in the kitchen window. "Being sneaky doesn't really befit you," he said as he grinned seeing her bright red face even from 4 feet away and in dim light.

"Ranma seriously?" Akane said to him before she jumped off the counter and went back to cleaning the stove. "Retard, how does he still know everything?" She whispered to herself as she scrubbed at a black spot on the yellow stove.

"Because I'm smarter than you," Ranma laughed from over her shoulder and he felt her twitch underneath him. He ignored the feeling he got and went back to picking on her, "Plus that spot that you are washing is just chipped paint not caked on food."

"RANMA," She screamed and he backed off knowing that if she swung around she would hit his still sore chest. Akane looked him in the eyes, she felt like crying the only thing he had done since he had gotten back was pick on her. "Do you really think I'm bossy?" she finally said.

Ranma sighed and looked down at the floor, "Akane you already know you are bossy, but I think if you were any other way I would like it." It was the truth, Ranma loved the way she acted, he liked the fact that if he got out of line she could smack him back into it.

"Ranma tell me the truth," she said not believing what she was hearing, was he actually being sincere?

"That is the truth Akane, ever since I've been awake this whole day every thing just seems so normal all of a sudden. It's really helped me forget the stuff that was just happening to me 3 weeks ago," he said looking up at her with a genuine look of honesty.

"So you don't mind me picking fights with everything either then?" she asked remembering the other thing Ryoga had said.

"Heh, Akane I do the same exact thing, remember?" Ranma gave a little chuckle, since when had Akane become so insecure about herself? Maybe he should lay off for a while or something.

Akane couldn't hold the tears in any longer and she covered her eyes with her arm and held her head down. "Ranma I'm so glad you are back," she said through the tears, she felt like a big baby.

'Akane,' Ranma thought to himself, what was he suppose to do now? She must have really missed him while he was gone. He began to think back about the night before they had all left and he had gone upstairs to see if she was still awake. He remembered really wanting to ask her one last time if she would come with him. "Akane I'm very happy that you went to bed early that night after graduation," he said as he took a step closer to her.

"Why's that?" she said trying to wipe away her tears, she felt so weak. She hoped that he was going to say something real instead of making a joke.

"Because after I got home that night I went to your room to see if you were still awake so I could convince you to come with us the next day, and I'm really glad that you didn't go now," he said looking down at her trying to catch her gaze but she was staring at her chest. He took his hand and grabbed her chin and lifted her head back so he could see her dark brown eyes, "You've already made me feel like I'm home again."

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A/n: yes I know short chapter but I like it ending there...the next chapter should be longer. OH AND THANK YOU FOR ALL THE WONDERFUL REVIEWS!!! YAY!


	5. Nighttime Walk

"Ow Akane," Ranma shouted as she applied some Neosporin to his cuts. She had already done this for him every day for the past 5 days and he still complained about it hurting.

"Ranma I know for a fact that it doesn't hurt, it's just Neosporin, it's a lotion," Akane sighed as she finished the last few spots on his upper chest.

"Did you mean to say it's a death potion?" Ranma said between clenched teeth as she rubbed the last spot. "I don't understand why you have to put that on anyways," he said closing his eyes.

"Because your cuts were infected and now the infections gone so to keep if from coming back we have to put this on!" Akane explained to him for the fifth day in a row. They had been non-stop fighting again since they had had that real conversation in the kitchen several nights ago. Plus today she was extra stressed out because her father was scheduled to be home within the hour. "Are you sure you want to stay in here and not come see my dad?"

"Very sure Akane, he can't see me like this, plus I don't want to see his face when I tell him that my father might be dead," Ranma said looking around the room that he used to share with his dad, it was so lonely now. Ranma cringed again as Akane began to apply the bandage around his abdomen, "Akane can you not do it so tight and thick this time?"

Akane looked up at him, "If you don't like the way I do it then why don't you just do it yourself?"

"BECAUSE I CAN'T," he yelled at her, 'stupid girl, if I could do it myself then I would be'.

"Don't yell at me when I'm just trying to help you," Akane said before clearing her throat, if he was gonna act that way then she would just leave.

"Yeah well you are doing it all wrong," Ranma continued instead of apologizing.

Akane blinked a few times then stopped what she was doing and looked at him, "Why don't you just shut up and stop complaining like a little baby so I can concentrate?" She said in a monotone angry voice and instantly Ranma got quiet and let her finish. After she had tied the bandage off she stood up and looked down at him. "Ryoga will bring you your dinner later," she said before walking out the door.

Once in the living room she plopped down on the couch and wasn't pulled out of space until Ryoga entered the room.

"Ranma still not want to see your dad?" he said sitting down next to her on the couch.

"Nope, and he's being a big baby. Next time you are changing his bandages because right now I don't ever want to see him again for five more years," Akane mumbled hearing the front door of the house slide open. "Great," she growled as she placed both hands on her face and dragged them down.

"So we won't even tell him?" Ryoga asked knowing that Akane was stressed to the max at the moment and she would be worse once she remembered that next week was her last week of school and she needed to study for all her exams.

"Tell me what? That you guys have finally decided to get married!" Soun cried as he entered the living room looking at the two comfortable on the couch.

"DAD!" Akane yelled getting up from the couch and heading towards the stairs.

"What no dinner Akane?" Soun looked over at his only child left still living at home. Did his plan of leaving Ryoga and Akane home all week by themselves fail? Did they not find their true love for each other? Was his youngest daughter never going to marry and live at home the rest of her life? He felt completely defeated; no matter he still had to settle Nabiki down before working on Akane.

"It's made you just have to warm it up and start some rice," Akane said drearily as she remembered that she had a bunch of studying to do. If she passed all her exams this week then she would finally be graduating from College and she could go out and get a career like she always dreamed. 'And maybe at my place of work my boss will be a single handsome man and we fall in love and then start our own company together that way we decide our hours so we have time for the kids,' she thought to herself as she shut her room door behind her.

She sat at her desk and looked down at the Math equation she had been when Ranma had arrived on her roof the other night. Not feeling in the mood to study she got up and decided to take a little nap, she set her alarm for an half an hour nap and laid down in her bed.

Ranma had just finished eating the food that Ryoga had just brought him and he set the empty rice bowl down and looked around the room. "Dad you better be alright," he said to himself not feeling like staying in the empty room any longer. He got up and walked over to the door and grabbed the handle before stopping. No, he couldn't leave the room, Ryoga had told him that Soun had returned and if he wished to not explain anything then it would be best for him to stay in the room.

Sighing he turned away from the door and looked out the window at the dark night sky. He walked over to it and climbed up in the windowsill. He leaned his head out and looked over to Akane's window only a few feet away, but the lights were off. Was she already asleep? He jumped out onto the roof and walked over to her window and noticed that it was open. He leaned in and looked around and saw no one, he looked at the bed which the sheets were a mess. 'Where did she go?' he thought to himself as he turned around and looked out at the yard.

Ranma looked over at the gym and saw that the lights were on and he could see Ryoga moving around doing some sort of weird Tai-chi. Quickly he jumped off the roof and into the side yard and looked around again. There was no way that she was in the house because he would of heard her leave, he had heard her slam the door a few hours prior when she had finished yelling at her father.

"HA," he said aloud knowing exactly where she had gone. He turned and ran towards the front gate and swiftly leapt over it and into the street. He paused for a moment when he felt the most painful stinging pain starting from his feet and up through his chest. Deciding to forget the pain he continued to walk, instead of run, down the road.

How did he remember the route to school? He stopped looking up at the fence that he always used to walk on while him and Akane went to school every morning. He would of attempted to jump up there again but he then remembered the pain from when he had jumped over the gate. He continued on his way remembering all the mornings they had been stopped on their way to school by various people. Shampoo and her bike being followed by Mousse, Ukyo with her gigantic pancake flipper, that rich snob Kuno and his crazy sister Kodachi.

He wondered where all those people were now; well he knew where Mousse was. Ranma sadly looked up at the sky, 'I wonder if Shampoo had the same fate as him.' Shampoo was actually starting to warm up to Mousse when they were making their way back to China. The only reason Ranma had noticed this was the fact that she hadn't been hanging on him the entire journey.

Ranma stopped once he realized where he was at and he turned to face the building. The run down Chinese shop that Grandma Cologne had ran so that her granddaughter could be closer to Ranma. He was almost positive that Cologne had somehow escaped with her crazy Gypsy magic that she seemed to have tons of. Hopefully Shampoo had managed to escape with her grandmother, and they had somehow found their way to the springs.

"Ranma?" Akane's voice slightly startled Ranma and he turned around to look at her. Akane was just standing there in her white training kimono with her hair on a pony tail on top her head. Ranma quickly noted the different look.

"How was tether ball?" Ranma asked realizing that she must have been on her way back from the school yard.

"What?" Akane said surprised, he actually remembered that she liked to go play tether ball by herself late at night.

"Isn't that where you went?" Ranma asked trying hard not to smile at her because he knew he had embarrassed her. He watched as Akane glanced behind him and saw what he had been looking at, then instantly she turned and started to continue her walk back home.

"Akane wait, please?" He said running after and grabbing her wrist, "Come walk with me?"

"Ranma, I'm tired," Akane said not wanting to deal with him at the moment as she remembered her earlier anger with him. She didn't want to see him again for another 5 years!

"Please?" Ranma begged, he wasn't used to doing so but he really wanted her company as he walked around the town he used to live in. He wanted to see everything again but he didn't want to do it alone because he was afraid he would get to sad.

"Fine," she said letting Ranma drop her wrist instead of ripping it out of his grasp herself. She turned to look at him and the way the moon light hit his face she could see every little muscle on his face. He just looked so, so sad. She looked back over at the broken down restaurant and sighed, she hated Shampoo and every day she would bother her and Ranma she secretly wished her death, but now she felt awful for thinking it.

"I really hoped they made it," Ranma said following her gaze back over to the building. "I just wish I was the last one to escape and everyone else had escaped years ago and now are living somewhere happily and have completely forgot the Amazon's," he told her as he decided he didn't want to stay there any longer. He began to walk and Akane quickly caught up to him and walked beside him.

"Where are we going now?" Akane asked looking around and not seeing a thing but empty streets.

"I don't know, just walking," he said not having a specific destination in mind.

"Ranma can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," Ranma said as they continued to walk to nowhere.

"When did you get the curse lifted off you?" She asked hoping it wasn't a touchy subject for him.

"How did you know that?" Ranma asked trying to remember if there was anything that had given him away. The truth was he missed it, the only reason he had officially lifted the curse off himself was the fact that he had been trying for so long to do it, that he did it without thinking.

"Eh...don't worry about that," she said remembering it was an accident and she didn't want to tell him.

"Okay," he smiled at her and saw her blush a little. 'What did she do?' he wondered. "Anyways, after I escaped I woke up at Jusenkyo and I just sorta jumped in the healing spring, didn't really think about what I was doing. I don't remember how I got there or anything, I just knew that it was my chance to do the thing that I had been trying to do for over 10 years," he informed her trying not to make it sound like he hated his decision.

"You jumped in a healing spring at the only thing it healed was the curse?" Akane asked wondering why he still had all his wounds if he jumped in a healing spring.

"It was a curse lifting spring I guess," Ranma said fixing his previous statement.

"Oh," Akane said quieter this time feeling like she had asked a stupid question. All of a sudden Akane felt Ranma stop walking beside her and she stopped and turned to him. As soon as she did she was staring directly into Ranma's chest. How did he get so close? She looked up at him and he seemed to be spaced out with a tiny smile on his face.

"Ranma?" Akane asked moving her hands in front of his face trying to snap him out of it.

Ranma shook his head, "Sorry". He looked down at Akane and something happened that he didn't know how to explain. Maybe it was the way the moonlight was hitting her soft, white, milky skin mixed with her blue black hair and piercing eyes.

Feeling a little uncomfortable Akane didn't know what to do other than stare back at him. She felt her cheeks growing warmer and she could only imagine how red she was. She needed to do something to break the silence, "Ranma I'm so happy that you got back here safe and sound."

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A/n: Thank you everyone for the reviews...i love all of your ideas it really helps me when i get stuck with the plot! So sorry this was a little late, i just didnt know how to end the chapter, but i did. Now things are going to start picking up and i'm going to try to end this story at the most by chapter 14. alright well tell me what you think about this chapter???


	6. Enter Mascara

Ranma had been sitting in his room hiding for days when he heard Soun Tendo's voice outside his window. "Ranma isn't here," he had said. Instantly Ranma got up and ran over to the window to see who was giving him away.

Before he reached the window Akane had burst into his bedroom, "Ranma there is some girl out there looking for you."

"Some girl?" he repeated and finished his way to the window. When he saw the blonde haired goddess in the yard below he felt his knees go weak. His worst fears had come true even though he had secretly prayed for it not to happen every day. He looked at Akane and realized she was very mad, was it jealous finally peaking through?

"Ranma," Akane said walking over to the window and looking down at her father and the beautiful woman looking for Ranma. "Who is she?"

"T-t-that's the Amazon t-that w-was in c-c-charge of m-m-me," Ranma forced the words to come out of his mouth, and he felt stupid because now Akane knew how afraid he was.

"Well she isn't taking you back to China if I have anything to do with it," Akane said rolling up her sleeves and jumping out the window.

"Akane what are you doing?" Her father from below asked as he watched his daughter come from Ranma's old room.

"Go back to China, Ranma is not here," Akane said bravely with her fists clenched and ready to fight if the need be.

"Akane don't fight his fights for him," Ryoga said leaning against a tree as he had been watching this all unfold and no one had noticed him until now.

"But Ryoga, she's the one that tortured him!" Akane yelled down at Ryoga. Why was he being so mean?

"I see so Ranma is here," The Blonde Amazon finally spoke, "Or else you not know who I am."

Akane faltered for a moment, she wasn't very good at keeping secrets. Actually she was surprised that her and Ryoga were able to hide Ranma from her father for this long. 'Oh well it needed to come out,' she thought regaining her composure.

"And you are Akane? I know very much about you," The Amazon said in a sinister voice, yes Ranma had told her all about Akane Tendo.

"What?" Akane said being caught off guard yet again and in the instant she felt a whip around her and the huge pulling sensation. The next thing she knew was that she was down in the yard and she was all tied up with the Amazon's arm now around her throat slowly choking her. Akane could feel herself getting sleepier and sleepier.

"Ranma now you come out here or I hurt her," The blonde shouted knowing exactly what room Ranma was hiding in.

"Mascara let her go!" Ranma shouted quickly jumping out the window and down on to the ground in front of the Amazon. Now he was more mad than scared, he couldn't let Mascara do the same things to Akane that she had done to him.

"Why Ranma nice to see you," Mascara said with a large smile on her face.

"Ranma!" Soun shouted not believing his eyes. How long had Ranma been here and why hadn't anyone told him?

"Shut up old man," Mascara shouted before turning her attention back to Ranma. "I will let her go on one condition."

"Mascara I will not go back to China with you," Ranma said plain and simple, nothing behind the words except confidence.

"Very well then the girl dies," She yelled in anger and pulled out her clawed hand making a motion towards Akane.

Ranma was quicker than that now that he had almost fully recovered and he had somehow managed to get Akane away from Mascara before any harm was done to her. He looked down at Akane in his arms and her eyes were open so he set her on her feet and pushed her behind him. It felt good being able to protect someone again, since he wasn't even able to protect himself for the longest time.

"Akane are you alright?" Ranma quickly asked keeping a sharp eye on Mascara who seemed to be in deep thought about something.

"Yes I'm fine, thanks," she said looking down at the ground so no one could see the huge smile on her face. No one had watched after her like that in such a long time, it felt really good, like she was all of a sudden someone special again, especially to Ranma.

"Ranma, I see you become stronger since you escaped my clutches. Don't worry I will be back," Mascara said coming out of space and instantly she was gone with a puff of smoke.

"Ranma always have women after him even to this day!" Soun shouted over estactic that there was still a chance of marrying his youngest off. Screw trying to get Akane and Ryoga to get along, now that Ranma was back he didn't have to worry about anything; it would take care of itself.

"Mr. Tendo?" Ryoga walked over to the older man and scrunched his face trying to figure out why he was making such a weird face.

"Akane!" Soun shouted scaring Ryoga as he stumbled backwards away from the man suddenly shouting in his face.

"What father," the muscles in her neck tense just waiting for her father to say something.

"Make us a grand dinner," Soun said with a huge smile on his face.

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A/n: yeah its kinda short but i ddnt have time to write more because i really wanted to get this chapter up. And again THANKS FOR ALL THE WONDERFUL REVIEWS AND SUGGESTIONS i love them sooo much. So there you go Mascara the Amazon torture....


	7. Roof

Over the next week they hadn't seen neither hide nor hair of Mascara and Akane was starting to think that maybe she had gone back to china. She hoped this was true with all her heart, but still something wasn't right. Ranma's physical health seemed like it had completely crashed yet again. Every time she checked his bandages she noticed that his wounds had reopened and weren't healing anymore. The last time she had noticed this she had asked him he felt fine and he had replied with yes, but Akane wasn't so sure.

Akane knocked on the door and this time she was going to pressure him into telling her everything. 'No more secrets from Akane,' she thought as she entered the room. She looked around and Ranma wasn't there, she swore he had just told her to enter, well maybe he didn't. She walked over to the window and looked out; did he go up on the roof? How was he well enough to get on the roof? Akane climbed out the window and looked up and saw Ranma looking up at the stars.

She climbed the rest of the way up and sat next to him and he didn't even seem to notice that she was there. So she just pulled her knees up to her chest and looked up at the stars with him. A few moments later she could see Ranma move out of the corner of her eye but she kept her head up. The next thing she felt completely surprised her, he had just put his head on her shoulder. Trying her hardest not to move Akane kept looking up at the stars.

"Your chunky man arms are very comfortable," he said only partly joking.

"Ranma seriously?" Akane had a hard time getting mad at him for some reason; normally she would have slapped him by now. She decided 2 could play at that game she leaned her head to rest on the top of his fluffy black hair. "Your fat head is pretty comfy too."

"Why thank you," Ranma said with a smile, he liked this better than fighting with her. Ever since Mascara had come for some reason being around Akane was calming but around people like Ryoga he felt really jumpy and on edge.

"Are you going to stay here this time?" Akane asked closing her eyes knowing what the answer would be, 'until he gets married'.

"Until I keep my promise," he said feeling weird talking about it but it felt so natural now.

Surprised Akane lifted her head up and so did he as she looked at him with a funny look. "What promise?" Akane had no idea what he was talking about, she doesn't remember a promise. Maybe he promised to help Ryoga with fixing the place up a little bit or teach him a new move.

"To marry a Tendo girl," he said trying to hold back a smile thinking about how much creepier it would be if he did smile. He was fine being creepy but he didn't want to scare away Akane, then he would never feel that soothing feeling again. When Akane didn't say anything he went on still hoping not to scare her, "And since Kasumi is already married and Nabiki is who knows where that means…," he waited for her to fill in the blank.

"Me?" Akane said quietly, was he really saying all this stuff right now? Ranma the boy who always made fun of her and fought with her on everything? The boy she had always secretly liked and behind closed doors she cried because of a broken heart? "You don't have to fulfill that promise if you don't want too Ranma," she said thinking that this was some sort of trap. "Did my dad offer you lots of money?"

"Akane your dad doesn't have any money," Ranma said as he was starting to think that maybe he was wrong about Akane's and his chemistry.

"Did Ryoga give you money?" she asked there had to be some catch to it.

"Akane, why would Ryoga give me money to marry the girl that he's always been in love with?" Ranma had to snort at this one. Ryoga acted as if he didn't care about Akane but they both knew he still did, he still did everything she asked him to do.

"I don't understand then," Akane said out loud but not meaning too.

By this point Ranma was ready to just say forget it and go back to his room, but for some reason something inside him compelled him to stay and keep talking. Old Ranma would have ignored this instinct and done it anyways, but this Ranma knew better than that.

"Ranma, you really don't have to marry me if you don't want too, we are free to choose who we love and who we want to marry and who we want…," she was stopped by something soft hitting her lips. She closed her eyes and it embraced it because it only lasted for what seemed one second. When she opened her eyes she looked up at Ranma who had a completely serious face.

"Good night Akane," he said before walking over to the edge of the roof and hopping down.

Akane sat there in silence, did he just kiss her? Now she was completely dumbfounded, maybe Ranma really did want to be with her? Maybe it wasn't money or a promise or anything like that; maybe he truly liked her now? Akane let her body fall back against the cool roof, she needed to cool down.

"Damn it, I didn't even talk to him about his health like I was going too," she said quietly punishing her-self. She had gotten all caught up in what he had said about marriage, was that his proposal? "If so that was an awful one."

Later that night Akane woke up from a dream which as soon as she woke up she couldn't remember. She sat up and grabbed the glass of water off her desk and took a sip, before she looked at the clock. It read 2:47 in bright red neon numbers. She rubbed her eyes and laid back down and tried to go back to sleep wondering how she had fallen asleep in the first place. She remembers being restless and all she kept doing was thinking about Ranma's kiss, and then she started to try to remember what it felt like.

"ARGH," she screamed through her teeth, now she was never going to get back to sleep because she was thinking about it again. Not feeling tired she got up and decided maybe some jumping jacks would do the trick? She got up and started to do jumping jacks while turning in a circle, when she was facing the window she had to stop. She ran over to get a closer look and saw the reason why Ranma's wounds had reopened; he was outside sparing with the air.

Akane couldn't believe this, how was he supposed to fight anyone with open wounds even if he was strong enough to fight? She rolled her eyes and watched him train with himself until she felt tired. She looked back at the clock and it read 4:56 am. Deciding that he was probably going to bed soon and he would see her Akane quickly ran and jumped back into her bed and tried to think about nothing until she fell asleep.

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A/n: Sorry this took so long to get up. It's the end of the semster and i was writing papers like crazy and i got a little writer's block but i knew i had to get a chapter up so i pushed through it. hopefully you like?


	8. Train Station

Mascara stood atop a building looking down at the subway station in downtown Tokyo. She had her beady little eyes on a certain Tokyo U student going home from her last day of school for the summer. Mascara was trying to think of some sort of evil plan but today nothing was coming to her, she just stood there and watched as Akane awaited to be pushed on to the 3 o'clock subway train. There was something about this girl that she was just mesmerized with, and it wasn't just the stuff that Ranma had told her. It was the way Akane held herself that just showed the world her personality that Mascara was jealous of.

As she stood there trying to pin point exactly what it was about this girl she saw Akane glance up at her. Freezing in her spot as she watched Akane shuffle out of the crowd and away from the train, quickly seeing that Akane was coming her way she jumped off the roof to meet the strange girl face to face.

"What do you think you are doing here?" Akane shouted as she came closer to the blonde Amazon nuisance. What did this woman think she was doing coming all the way to spy on her in Tokyo? Akane could feel her face grow with anger, she wasn't even afraid of what this woman could do to her. She had learned to take care of these situations herself while Ranma was gone.

When Mascara didn't say anything back Akane knew not to drop her guard just because her enemy seemed to be staring into space. Akane remember the last 2 times she had dropped her guard around this crazy woman.

"Well, I was just wonder something," Mascara finally spoke crossing her arms in front of her trying to show Akane that she wasn't in any mood to fight.

"What is that? You wanna ask me first before you take Ranma away from me again!" Akane burst out in anger, she was too angry to care that this woman wasn't giving off the evil vibe at the moment. No Mascara didn't want anything other than to take Ranma back to China and torture him again until he dies or marries her.

"No I just, I guess wanted to take to you," Mascara said a little taken aback, what did Akane think was going on? Why did she want her to take Ranma away from her? "Nevermind," she said turning to walk away, she guessed she would never get to figure it out.

"Wait," Akane stepped forward, maybe this girl really wanted something different?

**A/n: Sorry it took so long to get up and its so short...just wanted to get a little something up so you guys didnt think i was flaking out on this story. But i have writers block...and as you can see above im trying to work through it lol little idea by little idea.**


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